Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa is a Disney Vacation Club resort at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, themed to the historic spa and horse-racing town of Saratoga Springs, New York. Spread across a large, landscaped site opposite Disney Springs, it is one of the largest Disney Vacation Club properties, and incorporates the separate Treehouse Villas set in woodland along the Sassagoula River.
History
The resort stands on land with a long Walt Disney World history. The site was developed from the 1970s as part of the Lake Buena Vista community, served in turn as a villa resort and conference destination, and from 1996 was home to the Disney Institute, an educational resort offering hands-on programmes in subjects from cooking to animation. When the Institute closed, Disney redeveloped the site as a Disney Vacation Club resort.
Saratoga Springs opened in phases. The first phase, Congress Park, welcomed guests on May 17, 2004, and further phases followed through 2007, completing the main villa neighbourhoods. The final major addition came on June 1, 2009, when the Treehouse Villas reopened. Treehouses had stood in the woodland since the 1970s in various uses; the 2009 project rebuilt them as modern three-bedroom villas raised on pedestals above the forest floor, and they now form a distinctive, bookable category within the resort.
Theming and layout
The design evokes late-19th-century Saratoga Springs, when wealthy visitors came for the mineral springs and the summer racing season. Victorian-style villa buildings with gabled roofs, verandas and colourful detailing are grouped into neighbourhoods named The Springs, The Grandstand, The Carousel, The Paddock and Congress Park, several of the names nodding to racing. Equine details, from artwork to topiary, recur throughout, and The Artist's Palette and Carriage House area forms the resort's centre, containing check-in, dining and shops.
At roughly 65 acres, the resort is expansive, with lakes, fountains and fairways of the Lake Buena Vista golf course threading between the buildings. Congress Park sits closest to Disney Springs, within walking distance of its shops and restaurants, while The Grandstand and The Carousel are the most secluded sections. The Treehouse Villas stand apart in natural forest glens along the river, each a standalone octagonal home elevated about ten feet off the ground. Accommodation across the resort runs from Deluxe Studios to Three-Bedroom Grand Villas, in addition to the Treehouse Villas themselves.
Dining and amenities
The resort's table-service restaurant is The Turf Club Bar and Grill, overlooking the golf course, serving American steakhouse-style fare for dinner. The Artist's Palette, in the Carriage House, is the quick-service location, offering market-style counters for breakfast, lunch and dinner, alongside a shop. Pools include the High Rock Spring Pool, with water slide and splash areas, The Paddock Pool, and quieter pools at Congress Park and The Grandstand, plus a separate pool serving the Treehouse Villas.
The resort's name reflects its spa heritage: a full-service spa has operated at the resort, in keeping with Saratoga's reputation for restorative waters. Transport is by bus to the theme parks, and by boat or on foot to Disney Springs. There is no Disney Skyliner station; Disney's Contemporary Resort and Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa are reached via the Magic Kingdom bus and monorail loop.
See also
- Disney Vacation Club
- Disney Springs
- Disney's Old Key West Resort
- Disney's Contemporary Resort
- Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa